August 9th will see Britain’s undefeated Kell Brook (32-0) travel to New York City to face undefeated American (24-0-1) Darrell Porter for Porter’s IBF Welterweight title. At 28 and 26 years old respectively, it is a battle of two of the future stars of the weight class, and a match that should be well worth watching. Look for Porter, the champion, to open the slight favorite at the sport books, though Brook will have a rabid following checking in and that line could change.
Brook is undefeated, and he goes by the nick name ‘The Special One’. He is considered the number one welterweight in England, and he has been clamoring for a title shot. He has only fought away from England once, and there are matches on his record that could be considered padding, but Brook deserves credit for crossing the pond for this fight in his hunt for a world title.
Porter comes with an extensive amateur background and a near flawless professional record. His lone draw came in December of 2012 to veteran Julio Diaz, a blemish he corrected by defeating Diaz soundly roughly 10 months later.
The welterweight division is crowded with big names, as Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Marcos Maidana, Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley all haunt the upper echelon of rankings in the weight class. This would seem to have the effect of putting a lot of eyes on this match, as Brook and Porter both are considered jsut a notch below the top guys and both seem poised to crack into that elite group.
Porter will likely be the favorite at the opening line. He has already defended the IBF title twice, he took out tough Paulie Malignaggi in his last outing, and he is generally considered to have had better competition over the course of his career. Brook however, coming from boxing-rabid England, has also had an infrastructure around him that is built to bring him to a world championship. Whereas Porter has grueling competition at the US Amateur level, including several wars with Cuban amateurs, Brook may be short that type of experience. Remember, his nickname is ‘The Special One’ and he has been hearing how special he is for a long time and how he is destined for a world title. Shawn Porter will disagree with that assessment.
